Carrier for containers



April 18, 1961 Filed June 6, 1958 R. E- PAIGE CARRIER FOR CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

PIcHAPD E. PAIGE.

April 18, 1961 R. E. PAIGE CARRIER FOR CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1958 INVENTOR.

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it d S ews Pa n 2,980,249 Patented Apr. 18, 196i CARRIER FOR CONTAINERS Richard E. Paige, New York, N.Y., assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 6, 1958, Ser. No. 740,220

Claims. (Cl. 206-65) My invention is an improved carrier or holder for containers, particularly cylindrical containers with projecting rims at each end. This application is a continuation-inpart of my application SerialNo. 307,261, filed August 30, 1952.

My purpose is to provide a holder which can be made from a minimum of material and loaded at a maximum speed and yet is strong enough to carry a considerable number of cylindrical containers. To accomplish this purpose I employ the tubular holder well known currently for its use with beer cans. This holder, made of hinged panels, is slightly longer and wider in cross section than the containers it holds. It is designed to receive containers from loading machines at high speeds and to hold them with their ends against opposite panels. According to my invention the holder is combined with a locking tab connected to one or more of the panels against which the ends of the incoming container will impinge along a hinge that enables the tab to swing away from the path of the incoming container.

The drawings illustrate several preferred embodiments of the invention. Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank of sheet material to be made into a holder that can be loaded from both ends. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of that holder with cans in it. Fig. 3 is a section along line 3-3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a variant of the holder of Figs. 1-3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one end of the holder of Fig. 1, enlarged, to show the action of the retaining tabs. Fig. 6 is a plan view of a blank to be made into a holder that can be loaded from one end. Fig. 7 is a plan view of that holder with cans in it. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a can and holder taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a view in perspective of the holder and cans in it. Fig. 10 is a view in perspective of a tool or device used to aid the consumer in removing the cans from the holder. Fig. 11 is a view in perspective of a variant of the holder of Figs 6-9.

The holder shown in Figs. 1-3 is made of a blank 1 of cardboard or other flexible sheet material, rectangular in outline with transverse parallel score lines 2. These lines, four in number, divide the blank into narrow sections 3 and wide sections 4. At one end of the blank v is a connector tab 5. The holder is set up by bending the blank along the score lines 2 and gluing or otherwise afiixing the tab 5 to the inner face'of the opposite section 4 along the inner edge of the latter. It will receive four cans in all, one at each end and two between them.

The cans have slightly depressed tops and bottoms 7 with projecting rims or chimes 8. Each section 3 has pairs of tabs 9 attached along score lines 10. To lock cans in the holder these tabs are folded into it along score lines 10 to impinge against rims or circular chimes 8. The tabs 9 engage the inner half of the rims of the two cans at the extremities of the tube so that these two cans are held securely in place, but their curved lateral faces project so'that about half of each of the two cans is exposed. The distance between the tabs 9 of each section 3 is such that two extra cans may be located in the holder between the cans at its extremities, all cans being in'contact with one another and retained in a single compact row. When the tabs 9 are bent into the holder they project from the inner faces of the sections 3 and their surfaces are inclined to right and left with respect to the length of these sections. When a can is inserted the rims press against the tabs which yield and fold against the top and bottom so that the cans may slip past them. When the holder is filled part of the rims 8 of the two cans at the extremities are moved just far enough beyond these tabs to clear them. Due to the resiliency of the material the tabs tend to unfold and their free edges then impinge against the rims 8. All the cans are thus held against displacement.

The free edges of the tabs 9 can be curved to conform somewhat to the rims 8. Any pull on the tabs by the cans, if the holder is held inclined or vertical, will not be perpendicular to the score lines 10, but will make a smaller angle therewith. Hence the liability of tearing, bending or breaking the tabs is reduced, and all the cans in the holder will be held securely. r

The holder of Fig. 4 is constructed for two rows of cans placed side by side. It, too, is made of a blank of sheet material bent into shape, with two top sections 11 and two bottom sections 12. The outermost hinge edges of the top and bottom sections are connected by sides 13 and the blank has a portion or section 14 that rises from the inner edge of one section 12 and forms a partition dividing the holder into two compartments, open at the opposite ends. The inner edge of the other section 12 has a tab 15 bent up and secured to the partition 14. Between the top sections 11 is an upstanding portion 16 in which apertures 17 are cut for the hand and to which tabs 18 are hinged along the upper edge to leave no sharp edges at the tops ofthe apertures 17,

The holder of Figs. 6-9 is made of a blank 21, rectangular in outline, with transverse parallel score lines 22 dividing the blank into narrow sections 23, wide sections 24 and a hinged connector tab 25 at one edge. It is set up by bending the blank along the score lines 22 and gluing or otherwise afiixing the tab 25 to the inner face of the opposite section 24 along the free edge of that section. It is wide and long enough inside for the cans 26 to fit in snugly with the ends of the cans abutting the narrow sections 23. The holder of Figs. 6-9 will receive three cans in all.

The cans have depressed tops and bottoms 27 and projecting rims or chimes 28. Each section 23 has a pair of tabs 29 at one end attached along score lines 30 so that they are foldable into the holder along the score lines 30. The score lines 30 diverge toward the end nearest them. Each section 23 has at its opposite endanother pair of tabs 29a, attached along diagonal score lines 30a. The score lines 30a differ from score lines 30 in that they converge towards the end nearest them. Tabs 29 are in such a position and of such a shape that when they are swung inward and backward a part of the free edge of each remote from its hinge is in line with a semi-circle of a size and shape approximating that of the end rim of a can with its diameter at the open edge of the section 23. This is true of the tabs 29a, too, despite the converging of the score lines 30a (see Fig. 7).

As stated above, all loading can be efiected from one end of the holder of Figs. 6-9. In the first step the tabs 29 and 29a are bent inward. Then a can is inserted in the left end so that the leading edge of its rims 28 presses against the inbent tabs, causing them to yield and fold against the inner faces of the top and bottom. The can then slips all the way past them. It is followed by a second and third which push the first to engagement with the tabs 29a at the opposite end. When the leading, or forward, part of the rim 28 of the first can meets has four corresponding pairs of tabs.

the tabs 2911 it causes them to swing inward and backward until they are pressed against the inner face of the top and bottom sections 23 and the leading edge slips ,past them. They thenspring back into contact with the ,ends '27 of the can so that their free edges catch the trailing, or backward, part of the rims 28. This action arreststhe can so that although one half of it. projects outside the holder it can go no further. The lastcan loaded, i.e., the can at the entrance end, is held as described in connection with Figs. 1-3. The second can loaded is held by the cans at each side.

In order to insure the efiectiveness of the tab 2% it .is preferable to shape it so that when it swings inward and backward until it is pressed against the inner face of the .panel a part of its free edge a substantial distance from its hinge extends to or intersects the inner half of a circle passing through the innermost part of a similar bottom section. The outermost hinge edges of its top and bottom sections are connected by sides 24. It has-a portion 34 that rises from the middle of section 23' with a bent strip 25 secured to the other section 23' to form a partition dividing the holder into two compartments, both open at the opposite ends. Each half of the bottom section has at one end a pair of tabs 29 and at the other end a pair of tabs 29a, and the top section All the tabs are formed and disposed as described above.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, of course, advantage being achieved by any tab that swings away from the lonigtudinal center line of the panel to which it is attached, i.e., the path of the incoming container. When a single tab is used instead of a pair it is preferable to have it larger with respect to the rest of the carrier than any of the tabs shown in the drawing. When a tab with hinge parallel to a hinge edge of its panel is used it is preferable to have the hinge extend as close as any other part of the tab to the open end nearest it.

A knife blade or the flat strip of Fig. may be inserted under the tabs to release the cans at once and save the carrier, or the holder can be torn apart around lines diverging toward the near end, and a second locking mechanism folded out of the plane of the panel, said second mechanism including a second pair of die cut tabs near the other end of the panel, the second pair being folded upon score lines converging toward the other end.

2. A carrier for a plurality of chimed cans comprising an open end tube made of hingedly connected panels, at least one of which has a locking mechanism folded out of the plane of the panel, said mechanism including a pair of die cut tabs nearer one end of the panel than the other, the tabs being folded upon score lines diverging toward the near end.

3. A carrier for a plurality of chimed cans comprising an open end tube made of hingedly connected panels, at least one of which has a locking mechanism folded out of the plane of the panel, said mechanism including a pair of die cut tabs nearer one end of the panel than the other, the tabs being folded upon score lines converging toward the near end.

4. A carrier for a plurality of chimed cans comprising'an open end tube of "sheet material, 'said tube being formed of top, b'ottoin'and side panels hingedly connected along fold lines, the top and bottom panels being similar and rectangular, the top panel having a die cut locking tab at each open end of the tube, the tab being hinged along a 'fold line, the fold line making an acute angle with a line lying in the plane of the top panel perpen'dicular to a hinged edge thereof, the tab being die cut from the material of the panel lying within the acute angle, said tab in operative position being folded approximately degrees toward the inner face of the top panel, whereby the tab can lie upon the recessed end of a can with part of its cut edge abutting the inner periphery of a chime.

5. A carrier having a plurality of chimed cans comprising an open ended tube of sheet material, said tube being formed of top, bottom and side panels hingedly connected along parallel fold 'lines,th'e top andbottom panels lying in parallel planes, the top panel having a die cut locking tab at each open end of the tube, the tab being hinged along a 'fold line, the fold line making an acute angle with aline lying in the plane of the top panel perpendicular to a hinged edge thereof, the tab being die cut from material of the panel lying within the acute angle, said tab in operative rposition being folded approximately 180"towa'rd the inner face of the top panel, whereby the tab can lie upon the recessed end of a can with part of its out edge abutting the inner periphery of a chime.

References Cited in'the-file of this patent UNITED STATES PA TENTS Paige Aug.'5, s 

